Greening Mass Transit & Metro Regions: The Final Report - MTA

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Recommendation 1. Accelerate NYPA Energy Retrofits and Energy-Efficiency Projects
The MTA should expand its energy retrofits in collaboration with NYPA, which now have a proven record of significant
and compounding energy savings. At present, the MTA plans to nearly double its program of energy retrofits and energyefficiency
projects with NYPA. To set a clear framework for this important source of energy savings, the Commission
recommends that the MTA set a goal of re-evaluating the energy efficiency potential in 100 percent of major MTA
facilities every 10 years.
A Greener Subway Track
Some energy savers, like Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) in subway tunnels, are no-brainers. Others are not so obvious, such as the engineering of “humped tracks” on the
Second Avenue Subway project. By adjusting track inclines at stations, designers use gravity to reduce the energy trains expend in braking and acceleration, shaving extra kilowatts
off each train arrival. Similarly, minute calibrations of the turn radius in tracks can minimize energy loss in braking. MTA’s R160 subway cars, equipped with regenerative braking,
have the potential to capture the braking energy as trains enter a station and transfer it to trains departing on the adjacent tracks. With the conversion to an all AC fleet, the MTA
would have the opportunity to use the full potential of regenerative braking and capture significant energy savings.
2nd Ave Subway Cross Section – Humped Tracks
NEAR-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation 2. Field Test and Implement Weight Reduction and Regenerative-Braking
Technologies, as Recommended by the Commission’s Smart Fleets Task Force
The MTA should reduce its demand for propulsion power and fuel by moving aggressively to identify and implement the
most energy-efficient innovations being tested in its Smart Fleets program. Both regenerative-braking systems and design
innovations that lighten the weight of rolling stock while maintaining safety are the most promising advances in the current
Smart Fleet programs. The MTA must continue to expedite testing of new technologies that shave the energy expended for
traction power, by far the MTA’s largest energy demand.
Recommendation 3. Expand the Use of LED Lighting
The MTA should expand its use of LED lighting within the MTA system by taking advantage of opportunities for LED fixtures
in signals, emergency cut-off lights, tunnel lighting, and other applications. The MTA should also expedite its replacement
of bridge necklace lighting with new LED fixtures, which testing indicates cut energy consumption by approximately 73 percent
and reduce crew maintenance costs. For the pilot project at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, LED necklace lights were delivered
in November 2008 and installation will be completed by June 2009. The MTA should undertake LED installations at the
three major remaining MTA bridges (Bronx-Whitestone, Robert F. Kennedy, and Throgs Neck).
LED Bridge Lightning
The MTA has begun replacing the existing necklace
lighting on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge with LED
lighting, significantly reducing energy consumption,
maintenance costs, and waste.